TO provide for the institution and prosecution of legal proceedings by or on behalf of classes of persons and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. ENACTED by the President and the Parliament of Zimbabwe. Date of commencement: 20th October, 2000.

Parliament yesterday invited public comments on the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 1) Bill. In view of the importance of the Bill, the whole of the text of the invitation itself is set out below.

INVITATION OF PUBLIC COMMENTS ON THE CONSTITUTION OF ZIMBABWE AMENDMENTBILL HB1, 2017

Section 328(4) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that;“(4) Immediately after the Speaker has given notice of a Constitutional Bill in terms of subsection (3), Parliamentmust invite members of the public to express their views on the proposed Bill in public meetings and through written submissions, and must convene meetings and provide facilities to enable the public to do so.”

We gather here today to mark the official opening of the 2017 Legal Year.

For each year that I have presided over the official opening of the Legal Year, I have chosen a theme for my speech.

In 2016 I applauded the cordial relationship that has developed amongst the key players in the justice delivery system and which now characterises our interaction. I pray that this cordial relationship continues to grow from strength to strength.

The following Constitutional Bill is published with this Gazette Extraordinary in terms of section 328(b) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe-Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 1) Bill, 2017 (H.B. 1, 2017).This general notice nullifies General Notice 434 of 2016, which was published in the Extraordinary Gazette on 23rd December, 2016.

Note by Veritas: This Constitutional Bill was published on 3 January 2017.